Vacation In Japan - Osaka

Osaka Castle

My friend and co-worker, Jon, went to Japan for a vacation with his family and kindly brought me back some wonderful pictures!  I am so excited to be able to share a small portion of his experiences with you.

First stop?  Osaka, Japan's third largest city.  Osaka has historically been a commercial center, and even today is central to the Japanese economy.

Above you see the Osaka Castle, one of Japan's most famous historic buildings.  The main tower is built on two raised platforms of landfill supported by sheer walls of cut rock.  The castle was originally built in 1583 and has been rebuilt several times.  It was recently restored; the restoration work was completed in 1997.  The current castle is a concrete reproduction of the original and the interior is a modern, functioning museum, complete with elevators.

Here we see side street bike parking:  I love these glimpses into everyday life.

Osaka is a modern city, and you can see the beautiful skyline in the top part of this next shot.

Cherry blossoms in Osaka

Jon writes:

...It is a celebrated occasion to picnic under the cherry blossoms, which brings good luck for the year.

What a lovely place.  You have to look closely, but you can see the picnicking families under the blossoming trees.

Souvenir Shop

I love how colorful these shops are.  Above you see a souvenir shop.  It looks like they have food, and a lot of fun things there to tempt visitors.

Jon visited a few more Japanese cities, so look for more posts in this series!

Domo arigato!  Thank you, Jon, for sharing your visit to Osaka with us!